


Game Seven

by aj_in_nova



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Hockey, M/M, No actual NHL teams or players mentioned, Really just hockey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-11 22:25:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7909903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aj_in_nova/pseuds/aj_in_nova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The most difficult moments were when the score was tied, through most of the second period and into the early minutes of the third. Now Jack's team is leading by a goal, and there are 16 minutes remaining in regulation -- and that's plenty of time; it is so much time for anything to happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Game Seven

Watching a crucial game is so much more difficult than playing in one. Even now, well past his own competitive playing days, Eric can remember how intense those decisive games were -- but at least then, he thinks, he was _in_ the game, doing his best to do something about its outcome. Now he can't do anything but watch, and hope, and try to send all the love and energy that he can toward his boyfriend on the ice.

The most difficult moments were when the score was tied, through most of the second period and into the early minutes of the third. Now Jack's team is leading by a goal, and there are 16 minutes remaining in regulation -- and that's plenty of time; it is _so much time_ for anything to happen. Beside him, Jack's mother is squeezing Eric's hand so tight he can nearly hear the bones creak, but he doesn't actually feel any pain. On her other side, he notices, her other hand is locked on her husband's arm.

When Jack had spotted him in his seat during warm-ups, Eric had put on an encouraging smile and subtly blown a little kiss. But that was all a facade, and he was grateful to be sitting in a spot somewhat behind the players' bench, where Jack couldn't easily keep glancing up to catch his eye. Eric's sure the nerves are evident on his face, and he doesn't want that to affect Jack. Back on the East Coast, he knows, a watch party of their friends are staying up late to absorb every minute. Eric almost envies them being able to see the game among a small group of friends instead of a massive crowd of mostly strangers.

Eric's eyes keep shifting between the ice and the game clock until eventually he realizes he's not even watching the play anymore. His eyes are locked onto Jack's sweater, following him across the ice and then watching him on the bench as his line sits waiting for another shift.

With a little more than two minutes remaining in the period, the other team pulls the goalie and puts on a sixth attacker. Eric's eyes keep flicking between Jack and the clock; he barely even knows what's happening in the game. Jack is on the bench when his team gains possession of the puck and Eric is watching him watch it as it skitters into the empty net at the other end of the ice. The players on the bench and the fans in the stands are all on their feet. There are some 30 seconds left in the period, and there's little chance the Falconers won't win this game and be skating the Stanley Cup around the ice tonight.

Eric sees the coach tap Jack's shoulder to take the critical faceoff at center ice and he wants to burst with pride. He holds his breath when Jack wins the faceoff and the team plays a slow passing game while the clock ticks down to zero. When the buzzer sounds, Eric is jumping up and down, enveloped in the hugs of Jack's parents and crying before he even realizes it's happening.

After the two teams go through the handshake line, and the winners give each other exuberant hugs and happily rub each other's helmets, the Stanley Cup is finally presented to the team captain. Eric is still watching Jack, who will probably get his turn to take a victory lap it after a handful of his teammates have done so -- there's a tradition to this, a protocol. They know how it goes. Jack is clustered with his teammates near the bench when he seems to remember the crowd all around him and looks over his shoulder toward the family section. Eric's breath catches at the expression on Jack's face -- not a huge smile, just a tiny one, but one without any worry or wistfulness in it. They make eye contact and he thinks Jack is saying "thank you," probably to his parents. Eric hopes he's still looking when he mouths back "love you."

**Author's Note:**

> I confess I'm very nervous about this. I am actually an editor, not a writer, but I suddenly felt like I'd dug myself deeply enough into this fandom that I ought to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. It is the first fic I've ever shared outside a small, closed group -- constructive criticism is welcome.  
> "Check, Please!" is the creation of Ngozi Ukazu.


End file.
